Many of us at whatever age have been managing their weight for many years or are just starting out on a weight related journey.

We might be losing, gaining, maintaining, have a zillion different approaches, lifestyles, be at any stage of life, have different interests & personalities, but we all have one thing in common, we are fighting the good fight of healthy weight management.

Let's share our wisdom & talk about what we've learned or are in the process of learning & support each other in weight management and just generally.

Everyone is welcome.

Being pregnant is not a ticket to revert to bad habits and baby weight is much harder to take off than many girls think! I was a maintainer when I got pregnant the first time and I'm still battling it after my 2nd baby, I got wayyyyy too complacent. How on earth I thought anything would be easier wit a kid around? Yees!!

Weight management never ends it takes constant effort.Every Day.

Our lost pounds are hanging around in the atmosphere forever like volcanic dust, smoke and smog.

I will be spending a romantic day with my husband working on our broken pipes. When we get done with that, I will be taking a nice, long shower...

Today, I am very grateful for indoor plumbing.

I'm several years into maintenance. It never ends. To keep the weight off, you have to monitor your choices forever. You don't get to be a "normal" person who eats what they want, whenever they want. You get to watch it all the time.

In return for all this effort, I get to stand in dressing rooms and try to decide whether my butt looks better in a size 4 or a size 6. It more than makes up for having to say no to that second slice of pizza.

[QUOTE=Robin41;4593136You don't get to be a "normal" person who eats what they want, whenever they want.[/QUOTE]

How many slim adults do you know who get to eat what they want, whenever they want? I know none.

F.

Freelancemomma - I know some slim adults who eat whatever they want whenever they want ... but the trick is for some reason they naturally just don't want much. Or if they have a HUGE meal they are so full all day they hardly eat the rest of the day. I think some people just have bodies that naturally self regulate and cravings and desires that are important.

I will ALWAYS have to regulate my real desires. I'd weight 600 lbs if I ate whatever I watned.

You can't seperate genetics from environment when it comes to eating. There may be a difference between "naturally self regulate" and "learned to self regulate" and/or some combination.

What would be interesting is to take a large group of these people and find out what kind of eating environment they were raised in and test their insulin sensativity and other hormonal responses to eating.

Maintenance requires vigilance, no doubt about it. I'm so grateful my journey has been long and much interrupted, because it has taken me completely out of the diet/on/off mindset.

Eating with accountability is what I do, always, and correcting as needed is just the way of it. I accept it, I'm comfortable with it, I don't get tired of it because it's as much a fact of life as waking up to my alarm, brushing my hair, or finishing my bible study. When the mental conflict/fatigue is removed from the equation, maintenance isn't 'easy' but it is fairly routine - and that's what I think has to happen for the most comfortable long term results. I do lots of things every day that I don't get tired of, and maintenance behaviors are on that list. Daily, for life, and not worth railing over

Wow, nice to see everyone, huzzah!

I had a good calorie day yesterday and THINK it I'm on Day 7 of my Good Calorie Level Challenge. Got up really early today to do the half hour of circuit training I had planned and used one of The Firm's classics (the first Firm ever made) to keep me company for the half hour. Taking shower soon as I have an early appointment. It is SO much warmer here, still cold but quite a bit warmer than the mornings have been for a week.

Re the "Good Fight" ... I love that phrase in relation to the weight journey. It was originally used by Gailr42 in a previous thread and it motivates me to realize that I AM still and forever fighting this good fight, not only to maintain a weight loss that occurred slowly over almost two decades now (with the usual ups and downs along the way) but it is a GOOD fight that I seek to do in a healthful manner and for the benefit solely of myself and my life, whatever twists & turns the life takes. I can't use the twists and turns as an excuse to gain a lot of weight back because it absolutely would make no sense to do so. Things are good in life and bad in life, but I have to be careful not to let that mindset I get sometimes that it isn't important to stay in a good (as defined by me) weight range.

Have a great day, all!

+1

Every day I watch what I eat, how much of it, etc. Unplanned things happen but I'm confident in my abilities to manage them.

We have water and I am solidly 159lbs this morning. What more could I ask for?

We are off to the "big city" this morning and will visit Costco etc to buy more healthy food.

Keep up the good fight!